1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing apparatus installed in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copy machine and a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fixing apparatus is installed in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying apparatus and a printing apparatus. The fixing apparatus generally heats a recording medium bearing an unfixed toner image while conveying the recording medium to fix the toner image on the recording medium in a nip portion formed between a rotatable heating member and a pressure roller that contacts the rotatable heating member.
Recently, a fixing apparatus employing an electromagnetic induction heating system has been developed and practically used. Such a fixing apparatus enables a conductive layer of a rotatable heating member to generate heat, and has an advantage of a short warm-up time.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-026267 discusses a fixing apparatus with a few restrictions on thickness and materials of a conductive layer.
However, even the fixing apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-026267 has a problem of a temperature rise in a non-sheet-passing portion when a toner image is fixed on a small recording medium.